"They don't have KL Rahul now" - Wasim Jaffer thinks LSG can't afford to play home matches on black soil pitch in Lucknow
Lucknow Super Giants have hosted six teams at the Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in IPL 2023. It is the first time Lucknow is playing host to the Indian Premier League.
Unlike a majority of the venues hosting IPL, the Ekana Stadium does not offer a flat pitch. There is a red soil and a black soil pitch on the ground, where scoring runs is not easy. The black soil pitch has been the toughest to bat on.
LSG have won only two of their six home matches in IPL 2023 so far. They will play their final home game against Mumbai Indians on May 16. When asked about his views on the black soil pitch, Wasim Jaffer said in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda Cricket:
"I don't think that Lucknow can afford to play on black soil going forward because they don't have KL Rahul now. Plus, their overseas players will not enjoy playing on black soil pitches. They will probably play their remaining home matches on red soil pitches, where the teams have scored 150-160 in the past."
"They are failing to chase 130-run targets" - Mohammad Kaif thinks Lucknow pitch has exposed T20 stars
Multiple low-scoring matches have happened at the Ekana Stadium this season. RCB defended a 127-run target against LSG recently, while in the game before that, GT defended a 136-run target against the Super Giants.
Sharing his opinion on the black soil pitch, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif told Sportskeeda Cricket:
"I think it adds a new, nice flavor to the IPL. Almost every ground has flat pitches. Even in Chennai, we are seeing totals of 200 this year. High-scoring matches have become frequent because of the Impact Player rule."
He continued:
"Lucknow's turning pitch adds a new dimension to the IPL. It is not a bad thing. A pitch like that exposes the poor techniques of modern-era players. Their technique is so bad that they are failing to chase 130-run targets."
Explaining the reason why a majority of the batters have failed to score big in Lucknow, Kaif said:
"Today's batters play so much cricket on flat wickets that they end up surrendering on turning tracks. They think I can't play well here."
The former Indian cricketer concluded by saying that spin-friendly wickets are not unplayable. He pointed out how players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, and even LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir achieved a lot of success on spin-friendly pitches.